


Tucked Behind the Tapestry

by AccioMjolnir



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Detention, F/M, Sass, Secret Liaison, passing notes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:09:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29296422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AccioMjolnir/pseuds/AccioMjolnir
Summary: Ginny is just so bored of the same old thing. Until someone catches her eye... or did she catch theirs?
Relationships: Theodore Nott/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 21
Kudos: 17
Collections: Love Fest 2021, Rare Pairs RHM Read for LoveFest





	Tucked Behind the Tapestry

**Author's Note:**

  * For [anne_ammons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anne_ammons/gifts).



> Written for Fairest of the Rare's Love Fest 2021! 
> 
> The prompt was "Theo x Ginny, secret liaison."
> 
> #TeamVenus

It was happening again.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione faced off against Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle. They couldn’t help it, they were drawn to each other like moths to flame. To make matters worse, all of Slytherin house followed Draco, and all of Gryffindor followed Harry, as if the two of them were planets formed entirely of spite and everyone was helpless to their deep and toxic gravity wells.

That’s how Ginny Weasley found herself leaning against the wall, arms crossed, sighing heavily and watching as Harry once again accused Draco of being  _ up to something _ and Draco once again spat at him to mind his own bloody business.

She scanned the crowd opposite with a weary eye, expecting and finding the same old faces. Pansy Parkinson. Blaise Zabini. Tracey Davis. Theodore Nott.

Unlike the others, though, Theo held her gaze. She furrowed her brow. He raised his in response. She narrowed her eyes at him. 

He  _ winked _ at her.

Never one to balk at a challenge, she responded by lifting her chin and miming a kiss at him. To her delight, he smiled broadly. His face lit up and she was thoroughly charmed. Before their long-distance flirting could go any further, however, Draco and Harry’s standoff came to an end and the two houses diverged again. 

Ginny glanced over her shoulder as she turned. Theo had disappeared into the crowd.

***

A week later it happened again. Harry, Ron, and Hermione found themselves spitting invective at Draco and his cronies, and once again Slytherin and Gryffindor houses bore witness. This time, they were outside; the cool breeze and sunshine were an unusual break from the gloomy rain that had been plaguing them for weeks. Winter was around the corner, so most of the students made the most of it before it became too cold.

Ginny was sprawled out on the grass with Luna Lovegood, Dean Thomas, and Michael Corner. She was dating Dean; he was cute, he was tall, he made her laugh sometimes. He was a good kisser,a better hugger, and it thrilled her just a little bit that it seemed to really annoy Ron that she was dating a friend of his. But something didn’t quite click for her.

“This again,” he muttered, watching the altercation. Michael and Luna murmured in agreement as Ginny scanned the crowd. Standing not far from Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle were Theo Nott and Pansy Parkinson, heads tipped together in conversation. Pansy was gesturing toward Hermione with a bit of a frown on her face. 

She watched as Theo’s eyes scanned Hermione. He rolled his eyes and shook his head at Pansy, muttered something, and then she scoffed and turned away from him. Whatever she’d said, he hadn’t agreed with her. Ginny tipped her head curiously and watched. 

Theo turned and walked back into the Slytherin crowd, approaching Blaise Zabini. He tapped the taller boy’s shoulder and received a broad smile in response. Theo gestured back toward Draco and Harry with a thumb, and moments later both of them laughed brightly. 

“I think the Slytherins are as tired of this as we are,” she said, and Michael made a curious sound.

“What makes you think that?”

“I just watched Nott and Zabini have a laugh about it,” she said, shrugging. Dean furrowed his brow at her.

“Why’re you watching Nott and Zabini? Pair of gits,” he muttered. Ginny looked at him and rolled her eyes.

“I’m watching everything,” she said. “They’re friends with Malfoy, but they’re still over there letting him natter on all by himself.”

“He’s got Crabbe and Goyle,” Dean retorted.

“You’d get better comebacks from a pair of bludgers,” she said. “Malfoy might as well be alone.”

The others laughed, and she let her gaze wander back to Nott and Zabini. Blaise had turned to speak with Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis, while Theo stood quietly beside him with his hands in his pockets, scanning the grounds. As Ginny watched, his gaze went from Harry, Ron, and Hermione along the hillside, taking in the scene. His eyes raked over their little foursome and he stopped on her. He smirked, raising an eyebrow. She shot him a cheery smile. He chuckled to himself, shaking his head, and then turned back to his friends.

“What was that?” Dean asked.

“No idea,” Ginny replied. He let out a strange little hum, but said no more, and after another minute or so, Draco and Harry finally gave up. Slytherin house dissipated, but Gryffindor was treated to a secondary drama as Ron and Hermione bickered loudly about something else before Hermione stormed her way past their crowd, huffing to herself about it all.

“I keep telling her,” Luna mentioned idly, looking up as Hermione passed. “She has too many wrackspurts.”

***

She was late to charms class.

She was late to charms class because she’d accidentally dumped Dean this morning instead of tomorrow afternoon like she had been planning.

She was going to wind up in detention because this was the third time in a row she was late to charms class because of Dean. Only this time it wasn’t for snogging.

She tore down the third floor moving staircase despite realizing that it was starting to shift away from where she needed it to be. “Wait wait wait,” she muttered, barrelling toward it. She leapt, managing to make it to the landing before the stairwell cleared it, catching herself with both hands against the tapestry across the way.

It gave way and she fell bodily into the alcove behind. Of course there was a bloody alcove.

“Weasley?”

There was Theo Nott, folded up at the back of the alcove, book against his knees. It was an old archer’s nook, one of many along the castle. There was natural light thanks to an arrowslit on the back wall. She scrambled to her feet. “I’m late for charms.”

“Not the charms classroom,” he said, gesturing around himself. 

“Yes, I  _ had _ noticed,” she rolled her eyes at him. He smirked at her.

“Well, don’t let me keep you,” he said, returning to his book. When she didn’t move, he looked back up at her. Then he smiled widely. “Unless you want me to.”

“I--I’m going to get detention,” she said, a little dumbfounded, and then she gestured over her shoulder. “I’m going to--I need to--”

“Maybe another time then,” he smiled. Ginny bolted before he saw her blush.

***

“Fancy meeting you here,” Theo drawled, sliding into the seat next to Ginny in Flitwick’s classroom the following Saturday.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, staring at him.

“Strangest thing,” he said, leaning back in his seat, purely at ease. Ginny watched him pick at a bit of fluff on his jumper and flick it to the ground. He looked back up at her with deep blue eyes that had no right being as bright as they were. Who had eyes that shade of blue? Surely it had to be reserved for descendants of Poseidon or something. There was no way it was natural to mere mortals. She swallowed and looked down at the scroll of parchment upon which she was writing lines about timeliness. Theo finally added, “Flitwick caught me out and about well after hours yesterday.”

She glanced sideways at him. She was often out after hours. Of all the professors to catch you in the halls at night, Flitwick was not typically a concern. “Flitwick did?”

“Yep.”

“Were you knocking on his bedroom door?”

He laughed and shook his head. “No.”

“Well, you must be the least subtle sneak in the whole school, then,” she said, and he chuckled to himself, pulling parchment and a quill from his bag. 

“Subtlety is in fact one of my greatest attributes,” he muttered. Flitwick approached the table.

“Fifty lines, Mr. Nott,” he said, after casting a withering glance toward Ginny. She turned her head away, tucking her hair behind her ear and returning to her own lines. Flitwick continued. “You will write ‘I will give the proper respect to school artifacts,’ Mr. Nott. Suits of armor are not to be disturbed for nonsense the way you and your friends did last night.”

“Yes, Professor Flitwick,” he muttered. The diminutive man walked to the front of the room and sat down at his desk. For a few moments, Ginny simply wrote her lines, glancing sideways once or twice to watch Theo write his own. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she grabbed a second bit of parchment.

_ Why are you the only one with detention if it was you “and your friends” last night? _

She slid it sideways and Theo took it up, glancing up toward Flitwick before sliding it in front of himself and scribbling on it. He kept his eye on Flitwick as he slid it back.

_ Draco and Blaise legged it. Flitwick caught me with a stunner. Loose lips sink ships, Weasley _ .

Ginny smirked and scratched out a response, glancing up as she slipped it sideways.

_ I thought ‘there’s no honor among thieves’ was more the Slytherin way. _

She watched as Theo read it, a smile curling his lips. He scratched back a response.

_ Whole house, yes. Best mates? Never. _

Ginny smiled at it and then glanced up at Flitwick again. He appeared to have fallen asleep in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest, his chin down. She smirked and replied.

_ I like that. _

Once again, the parchment slid between them on the table. Once again, Theo smiled at her response. He tapped the feather of his quill against his lower lip as he thought for a moment, and then he glanced sideways at her before shifting in his seat and leaning over the parchment again. 

When it returned to her, Ginny couldn’t fight the broad smile it elicited from her. 

_ Finish your lines and meet me in that alcove? _

She hid the parchment underneath the one she was writing lines on, keeping it for herself. More than once she caught Theo looking in her direction as she continued her lines. She was only ten lines or so ahead of him; she’d only arrived a few minutes before he had. When she finished, she tapped hers with her wand, wrapping it up in a ribbon and levitating it to Flitwick’s desk. 

As she got up, she slid the slip of parchment to Theo one more time.

_ Don’t keep me waiting too long. _

***

Theo must have written his lines as quickly as humanly possible, because he caught up to her in the corridor just outside the alcove. He grabbed her by the hand and turned her around, and though she startled at first, she smiled widely when she realized it was him.

“You write fast,” she said, and he beamed at her.

“I had better things to do,” he replied. He edged her toward the tapestry, and she reached sideways, pulling it aside and ducking in. Tugging his hand, she stepped backwards into the space. The tapestry fell closed behind them.

“Better things to do?” she asked, taking her other hand and toying with his tie. His gaze dropped to her fingers on his clothing and then rose to her mouth. His tongue peeked out between his lips, just for a moment. His fingers grazed up the side of her arm. 

“Thought I’d spend some time with the prettiest girl in Gryffindor house,” he said, and then he pressed his lips to hers. It was a short kiss, a test of her willingness, and she smiled, letting his tie go in favor of sliding that hand over his shoulder and pulling him back for more. 

Theo Nott was almost too good at this, she thought, as he explored her mouth with his tongue and slid his fingers into her hair. She’d never been snogged so thrillingly in her life. Ginny let him push her back against the wall of the alcove, pressing his thigh between her legs to get close, his lips and tongue playing against hers in a heated and intoxicating dance. 

Minutes passed, or maybe hours, or possibly days. Ginny couldn’t really tell, and she most certainly didn’t care. When they finally came apart she knew her lips had to be bruised and her hair was most certainly out of sorts and her tie was loose, when had he done that? His was completely untied. She beamed at him and he came back for one more kiss, a long and indulgent one. 

“You have quidditch practice,” he said, and Ginny gaped at him.

“Why do you--”

“I’ll see you around, Weasley,” he grinned. Then he winked at her. Pulling his tie off, he ducked out of the alcove, leaving her dumbfounded.

***

Harry and Draco’s rows provided good cover. Whenever Gryffindor and Slytherin started to drift toward one another, caught in the pull of their ongoing feud, Ginny would duck away quietly and find her way back to the ever-familiar alcove with its curiously cheery arrowslit. Sometimes he would beat her there; sometimes she’d arrive a little before him, but the end result was the same. Ginny was enjoying quite possibly the world’s greatest snog on a regular basis with Theodore Nott and as far as she knew, she was getting away with it entirely.

“Where do you keep running off to?” Ron asked her one early morning in March.

“Yeah, Gin, what gives?” Harry asked. She narrowed her eyes.

“That’s my business,” she replied, and then she ducked out of the portrait hole and made haste, ensuring neither of them followed her.

Theo was waiting. “Hey, Red.”

“Hey yourself,” she grinned. He took her into his arms. She slipped hers around his neck and pressed her lips to his, pulling herself against him. 

And then she heard Ron.

She groaned, suddenly remembering the Marauder’s Map. “Oh, bloody buggering fuck.”

Theo laughed. “Have you always had such a filthy mouth?”

“Oi! Get away from my sister!” Ron barrelled through the tapestry with Harry hot on his tail. Ginny and Theo pressed into the back of the alcove;her back against Theo’s front, putting herself between him and her bumbling, overprotective brother.

“Ron--”

“What  _ is _ this?” he frowned, glancing back and forth between Theo and Ginny.

“Well we hadn’t quite  _ defined _ it yet,” Ginny started, and Theo chuckled softly behind her.

“I’m not about to ask your brother for permission,” he said. “But I was thinking it’s high time I took you on a date.”

Ginny grinned, even as Ron’s frown grew deeper. Behind him, Harry rolled his eyes and stepped out of the alcove with a muttered, “C’mon, Ron.”

“Yeah, go on, Ron,” Ginny said, shooing him with a handwave. Hesitating a moment, Ron continued to scowl, but then he shook his head and followed Harry out. Ginny turned to Theo, slipping her arms around his neck again. He smiled at her.

“So,” he started, giving her a kiss. “Go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?”


End file.
